Roof panel



Nov. 26, 1963 .P. OUELLET ROOF PANEL Filed July 18, 1960 IN VE N T01? gFl PATENT AGENT United States Patent Ofi lice 3,1 1 1,788 Patented Nov.26, 1963 3,111,788 ROOF PANEL Paul Oueliet, 750 S. North Lake Drive,Hollywood, Fla. Filed July 18, 1960, Ser. No. 43,370 2 Claims. (Cl.50-236) This invention relates to roof panels for trussless roofs andhas special reference to arch roof panels.

Moreover the invention relates to improvements in such roof panels suchas are shown in the patents to Blaski Nos. 2,436,543 and 2,257,153 andto patent to De Pfyffer, 2,167,370, this present invention accomplishingthe purposes of these prior inventions in a more highly efiicientmanner, the individual panels being preformed as self supporting steelarches.

One of the important objects of this invention is to provide an archelement for the above purpose which may be formed of steel plate rolledto shape and, when so shaped, having a high degree of resistance tobinding and deforming stresses.

Another important object of this invention is to provide joint means forconnecting the panels in side-by-side relation.

Still another object resides in a panel having an improved corrugationarrangement to obtain maximum resistance to shearing and of an improvedcross-sectional shape affording a maximum section modulus.

With the above and other objects in view, as will be presently apparent,the invention consists in general of certain novel panels of improvedarch shape formed to resist deformation and being adapted to be securedtogether to form a roof, the construction being hereinafter fullydescribed, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and particularlyclaimed.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate like parts in theseveral views, and:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective showing an interior View of a portion of threeassembled arch panels;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of part of a panel;

FIGURE 3 shows a cross-section of the means for securing the panels inside by side relation; and

FIGURE 4 is a schematic cross-section of a panel.

The panels which for the arch members of this invention are formed fromrectangular metal sheets which are so formed and shaped as to constitutearcuately extending troughs. Each of these troughs has a cross-sectionproviding a pair of flat sides or wings extending in acutely angledplanes.

These wings flare upwardly from the central floor portion 11 of thesheet. This floor portion 11 as shown in FIGURE 1 extends rectilinearlybetween the wings 16. This floor is continuously transversely corrugatedthroughout its length to form equally spaced rounded depressions orgrooves 12 alternating with raised flat floor sections 13. Thecorrugations thus formed are of uniform semi-circular cross-sectionthroughout their lengths and extend transversely between the oppositewings of the unit to terminate at said wings.

Extending from the ends of the floor portions 13 in the floor 11 intothe inner faces of the wings 10 is a series of spaced grooves 15 ofsemi-circular cross-section. The wide ends 16 of these grooves 15correspond in depth and width to the grooves 12 in the floor 11. Thesegrooves 15 taper to sharp points 17 to merge in the wing surface belowthe top outer edge of the Wings 19. The grooves 15 are offset relativeto the grooves 1.2 and their wide ends are located below the floorsections 13. By this arrangement the corrugations and grooves unite toprevent distortion of the trough shaped panel and aid in retaining it inproperly arched shape, while preventing that the drawn weaker metalareas extend in a common cross-section of the trough as would be thecase if the grooves 12 and 15 were registering. A better resistance toshearing stress is obtained.

The outer edges of the wings 10 are provided with a laterally projectinghorizontal flange 18 and a downwardly inclined flange 19 which is beadedat its free edge 21, such that, upon two like panels being broughttogether side by side these flanges will interlock in nested relation. Areinforcing channel 20 may then be placed in the space below the flangesand there secured. By this arrangement a segment-cylindrical roof may beformed.

The cross-sectional shape of the panel of the invention is such that amaximum section modulus is obtained. I

Referring to FIGURE 4, x indicates half the width of floor 11, lindicates the width of the Wings 10, h indicates the depth of thetrough, w indicates the effective width of the panel; t indicates thethickness of the metal sheet;

and 0c is the angle between the floor and the wings. Obviously, thepanel being symmetrical, the neutral axis is at the center.

The moment of inertia I for half the width is:

3 2 3 2 lt sin a lt cos (x 6 6 the last term can be neglected and en @E1 al Thus 2 tach The section modulus is IX =th(xZ/6) It can be derivedthat the maximum section modulus is obtained when half the width offlange 18 is equal to that the ratio:

is equal to about 1.417 and that on is equal to about 4651. As anexample the section modulus of a 36 wide sheet of 0.5 thickness is 2.05in. which is a considerable improvement over the maximum value of 1.73in. of all 36 wide sheets and of the same thickness actually used forthe same purpose.

Although a specific embodiment of the invention has been illustrated anddescribed, it will be understood that various alterations in the detailsof construction may be made without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention as indicated by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An arched structural unit having a trough shaped cross section,comprising a longitudinally extending flat floor portion, a pair ofdiverging flat wings extending from the side edges of the floor portionand connected by the latter, said floor portion being provided withtransversely extending grooves uniformly spaced continuously throughoutits length and of uniform semi-circular crosssection and terminating atsaid side edges to define flat floor sections separated by said grooves,said wings being provided with transversely extending grooves ofsemicircular cross-section offset from said floor grooves and extendingfrom below the edges of said floor sections and decreasing in width anddepth to sharp points merging with the faces of said Wings and spacedfrom the top edge of said Wings to define a flat and smooth top marginalportion for said Wings, a laterally outwardly depending flan e at thetop edge of each Wing and a downwardly inclined flange at the free edgeof said lateral flange, said inclined flange having a beaded free edge,the Width of said laterally outwardly depending flange being about onethird the Width of said floor, the Width of said wings being equal toabout 1.4 the Width of said floor, and the outside angle between thefloor and the Wings being about 47.

2. A unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the width of the ends of thegrooves of said wings adjacent the said floor sections is substantiallyequal to the Width of said floor sections.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Murphyet al July 8, 1913 Schlafly Oct. 31, 1922 Ramonoff May 30, 1939 DePfyfier July 25, 1939 Sendzirnir Feb. 13, 1940 Lang July 9, 1940Willoughby Dec. 31, 1940 Balaski Feb. 24, 1948 Hermann Nov. 12, 1957FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain 1914 France Sept. 14, 1959

1. AN ARCHED STRUCTURAL UNIT HAVING A TROUGH SHAPED CROSS SECTION,COMPRISING A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING FLAT FLOOR PORTION, A PAIR OFDIVERING FLAT WINGS EXTENDING FROM THE SIDE EDGES OF THE FLOOR PORTIONAND CONNECTED BY THE LATTER, SAID FLOOR PORTION BEING PROVIDED WITHTRANSVERSELY EXTENDING GROOVES UNIFORMLY SPACED CONTINUOUSLY THROUGHOUTITS LENGTH AND OF UNIFORM SEMI-CIRCULAR CROSSSECTION AND TERMINATING ATSAID SIDE EDGES TO DEFINE FLAT FLOOR SECTIONS SEPARATED BY SAID GROOVES,SAID WINGS BEING PROVIDED WITH TRANSVERSELY EXTENDING GROOVES OFSEMICIRCULAR CROSS-SECTION OFFSET FROM SAID FLOOR GROOVES AND EXTENDINGFROM BELOW THE EDGES OF SAID FLOOR SECTIONS AND DECREASING IN WIDTH ANDDEPTH TO SHARP POINTS MERGING WITH THE FACES OF SAID WINGS AND SPACEDFROM THE TOP EDGE OF SAID WINGS TO DEFINE A FLAT AND SMOOTH TOP MARGINALPORTION OF SAID WINGS, A LATERALLY OUTWARDLY DEPENDING FLANGE AT THE TOPEDGE OF EACH WING AND A DOWNWARDLY INCLINED FLANGE AT THE FREE EDGE OFSAID LATERAL FLANGE, SAID INCLINED FLANGE HAVING A BEADED FREE EDGE, THEWIDTH OF SAID LATERALLY OUTWARDLY DEPENDING FLANGE BEING ABOUT ONE THIRDTHE WIDTH OF SAID FLOOR, THE WIDTH OF SAID WINGS BEING EQUAL TO ABOUT1.4 THE WIDTH OF SAID FLOOR, AND THE OUTSIDE ANGLE BETWEEN THE FLOOR ANDTHE WINGS BEING ABOUT 47*.